A-B back on top

"You know, our first title in '07 was won on November 17th," said Shoemaker with a laugh after her team pulled out a 3-0 victory over Shrewsbury High School for the state Division 1 crown Saturday at Worcester State University. "This team never gave up."

For the first 20 minutes of the first half, the Colonial game plan of utilizing junior scorer Eleana Cardarelli was jeopardized, as the aggressive defenders of Shrewsbury double- and triple-teamed her.

Acton-Boxboro would have to look for other options on the offensive side, and the call would first be answered by Colleen Fowler, who would score unassisted to put the Colonials up 1-0 with 5:05 to go in the first half.

The Colonials would not wait long to strike again, with Eleni Neyland scoring with 3:06 left in the half off a beautiful pass from sophomore Leah Cardarelli.

"They did their homework," said Shoemaker. "They took my top two scorers (Carderelli sisters) out of the game early, so we had to look for other options."

The Acton-Boxboro defense would take over in the second half. Led by goalie Kathryn Salemme, who recorded five saves in the shutout, the Colonials swarmed the Shrewsbury attackers, with Cara Conery and the Carderelli sisters disrupting the Shrewsbury attack and never allowing Shrewsbury a chance to set up any sort of offense.

It was A-B's 15th shutout in 24 games as it finished with a 22-1-1 overall record.

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Its only defeat all season was a 1-0 loss to Chelmsford.

"I think the shape we are in really showed with our defense," said Shoemaker. "We moved up the pressure of our defense, and it really disrupted their offense."

Neyland would score again off a Leah Cardarelli pass with 7:57 to go in the game, and AB would hold the 3-0 lead to the end of the game.

The state championship is the third won by Acton-Boxboro in the past six years. A-B will graduate only six seniors: Fowler, Katherine Gnall, Lauren Roche, Kim Marrion, Brianna Taylor and Kori Church. So you might expect the Colonials back in the state finals next year.

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